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Government fails Limerick as 1,003 people linger on trollies in UHL in January - Maurice Quinlivan TD

Limerick City TD Maurice Quinlivan has slammed the Government over the chronic overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick.

With 1,003 people on trollies, Limerick is the worst affected hospital for trolley numbers in the history of the State. It needs urgent Government intervention. This is shameful and needs the Minister for Health to come to UHL as a matter of urgency.

Deputy Quinlivan said;

“UHL now has broken records nationally for having more than 1 thousand patients on trollies in a month. This is a record that the Government should be ashamed of.

"Limerick holds the shameful record as the location of the most overcrowded hospital in the state in 2017 and incredibly it looks like 2018 will be far worse.

“University Hospital Limerick saw 1,003 people lying on trolleys last month. This is a national disgrace and the Government should ashamed of itself.

“University Hospital Limerick has been suffering from severe overcrowding for years now – it is not just the flu outbreak that is causing this situation – it has become permanent feature in Limerick. The people in Limerick deserve better.

“This hospital is in a state of constant crisis; the full capacity protocol, a supposed emergency measure, is being used every single day, despite its function to be for emergencies only.

“Trolleys in the Emergency Department and on the corridors have become the norm in Limerick.

“The core of these problems stem from the downgrading of Ennis, Nenagh and St. Johns’ A&Es in 2007. It has not worked. A crisis that exists for that long is clearly not a crisis but Government policy.

“The former Health Minister Mary Harney called the situation a national emergency in 2006. 12 years later the situation now worse than ever.

“I asked Minster Harris to intervene back in the summer. Instead he wrote an email to management of the hospital outlining his unhappiness. I’ve sought an urgent meeting with Minister Harris and my colleague Senator Paul Gavan to discuss the situation in UHL but the Minister hasn’t responded.

“UHL needs extra money and extra beds as a matter of urgency to accommodate the patients. It’s that simple.

Minister Harris must act immediately and I’m urging him to come to UHL as a matter of urgency and see the situation for himself.”